Essay- Understanding Of Health Care Policies | National Health Service

Policy and Community
based Nursing

Public health is a matter of vital importance for the government of a nation. It is all about
helping people to stay healthy and protecting them from the threat of harmful diseases. Thus
government and health bodies formulate health policies so that individuals can make healthier
choices irrespective of their circumstances (NHS information. 2013). The present essay explores
a deep and systematic understanding of the health care policies that is employed by the UK
Government in order to provide better care services to care takers. In addition to this, it also
critically analyses health policy for diabetes and its influence on health care services of National
Health Services (NHS) of UK. Besides this, it also features the changing role of nurses in
effective implementation of health policy.
Few decades ago Diabetes was considered as a death warrant in UK. The number of
diabetic patients are increasing in the world including England. The are more than a million of
individuals who are diagnosed with this chronic condition and the number is growing
continuously (Alexiadou and van de Bunt-Kokhuis, 2013). Diabetes is a chronic and progressive
disease which can potentially affect individuals of all ages. The disease significantly affect the
physical and psychological well-being of patients as well as their families. It is comprises of
group of disorders with varied causes depicting a single trait of raised blood sugar level. This is
primarily caused due to lack of a hormone called insulin which regulates blood sugar level in
human body. Complications in diabetes may lead to various health problems such as
cardiovascular diseases, renal failure, stroke and blindness. In addition to this, it can result into
premature death and disability if not cured properly. It has been observed that prolonged
exposure to raised sugar levels in blood causes damage to body tissues. The early diagnosis is
very crucial as the increased blood glucose levels can lead to irreversible changes in tissues and
damaging eyes which makes the affected person blind. In addition to this it also causes damage
to kidneys which leads to progressive renal failure in diabetic patients. Apart from this, there are
several other conditions that occur very frequently in the patients suffering from diabetes. It has
been observed that urinary tract infection is very common among diabetic people. Besides this,
cataract also hit diabetic patients in the long run (Baggott, 2007). Apart from this, mental health
issues such as depression and eating disorders also affect the physical as well as mental well-
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being of individuals. However, the condition does not affect every individual equally in the
society. There are significant inequalities that prevails in the risk involved in the development of
Diabetes. In addition to this, inequality also exist in the access of health care services and quality
of these services with regard to Diabetes.
Diabetes, being a life long disease have a significant impact on various aspects of
affected person's life such as lifestyle, relationship, health, work and life expectancy. It has been
observed that mortality rates increases among affected people due to greater risk of coronary
heart diseases and stroke. In addition to this, leads to additional risks among pregnant women. It
is found that diabetic women have increased chances of miscarriages or still births. Besides this,
the condition may trigger congenital malformation in infants or deaths of new born babies during
infancy (Demers, 2004).
There is a significant impact of Diabetes in health and social care services in UK. Nearly
5 percent of total NHS resources are used for providing care to diabetic patients. In addition to
this, around 10 percent of hospital in patients resources are used in the treatment of diabetic care
takers in UK (Powell, 2002). Further diabetic people are twice as likely to be admitted to care
organizations as compared to their healthier counterparts. It has been observed that NHS costs
increases five folds with the presence of complications in diabetes. Besides this, it has been
estimated that more than three quarters of social services costs are related to residential and
nursing care. Home help services accounts for another one fifth. Therefore it can be said that
presence of diabetic complications increase the social services cost up to four times in UK's
health and social care sector.
Therefore it became very important for UK government to formulate an effective health-
care policy to reduce the negative impact of Diabetes on patients. For this, The National Service
Framework (NSF) program came into big picture in UK. The NSF program was established with
an aim to ameliorate health care services (Primdahl, Kristensen and Swaffield, 2013). This is
done by setting the national standards to improve the quality of services and handling variations
in the care of diabetic patients. The NSF framework for diabetes include range of standards,
important interventions and implications of planning care services. There are number of
standards which are set by NSF in order to identify people with diabetes and providing them
effective care to help them combating this fatal disease (The National service framework, 2011).
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Standard 1 of the framework features NHS practices to craft, implement and monitor
strategies to reduce the risk of developing diabetes among care takers and minimizing
inequalities in the risk of developing the chronic condition. Standard 2 enables NHS to formulate
strategies to identify people who are more likely to develop diabetes. In addition to this, it is also
crucial for NHS to regularly monitor the implemented strategies (Reisman, 2007). Standard 3
assist NHS to formulate health policies that can empower care takers to manage their health
condition effectively and help them in adopting habits to lead a healthy and blissful life. Under
this practice, children, adults and older people affected by diabetes will receive care services that
promotes partnership in decision making activities regarding their health needs. The practice
may be reflected in a shared care plan which will have a definite format and language. The
process may also engage relevant family members and carers of the diabetic patient.
Standard 4 deals with an effective clinical care of adults suffering from diabetes. The
framework features that NHS will provide lifelong quality care services to children and adults
with diabetes (Rummery and Glendinning, 2009). The families of service users are also included
in their day to day care. Standard 5 explains that NHS will remain focused to support patients in
controlling their blood glucose levels and encouraging patients to lead a healthy life in-spite of
the chronic condition. It also aims to develop individuals physically, emotionally and socially.
Standard 6 states that diabetic patients will experience a transition of care from pediatric
services to mature diabetic services irrespective of types of services such hospitals, care homes,
residential homes or community based services (Thielscher, 2010). The transition will be
facilitated in partnership with service users based on their age and health needs. Standard 7
forces NHS to develop, execute and monitor protocols for effective management of emergencies
related to diabetes with the help of trained care professionals. The protocols will also entail the
management of acute diabetic complications and practices to reduce risk of recurrence in future.
Standard 8 deals with care plan of diabetic people during hospital admissions. All care
takers including children, adults and older people will receive effective care for diabetes once
they are admitted to hospitals (Swayne, Duncan and Ginter, 2012). The health care providers will
include clients in decision making processes regarding their disease management. Standard 9
enables NHS and other care organizations to formulate and implement policies to provide care
and support to women with already existing diabetic conditions or those who develop diabetes
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